Trust's "Preservation Strategic Plan" Lauded at Annual Celebration

At their annual gathering held at Snow Hill Manor in Laurel on May 18, political and preservation leaders from across the county heard about the hottest issues and biggest challenges facing their community. For the third year in a row, a group comprised of members from the Trust, Prince George's Heritage, and the Historical Society compiled a "15 Most Endangered Properties" listing. Last year, the Maryland Historic Trust copied that initiative and prepared their own statewide list of endangered sites. Another Prince George's innovation, the Historic and Cultural Trust's dynamic "strategic plan for preservation," was lauded by speakers at the event. That plan is designed to increase the numbers of preservationists in Prince George's, to jumpstart new historic districts in the county, and to broaden the definition of heritage sites beyond traditional museum houses and residences.

The 2007 "15 Most Endangered List" was unveiled by Heritage board member Mike Arnold. It included bricks-and-mortar structures such as Bostwick House near the Anacostia, and the rare African American freeman family home, the Butler House, along the Potomac River. However, the listing was far more than a house listing. Maryland's most threatened open space -- the 70-acre Fennell tract that is threatened by plans for a 54-house subdivision in the heart of the Broad Creek Historic District -- made the list, along with the County's "rapidly vanishing rural preserves" and the trend toward shrinking the size of "settings" around significant resources.

Political leaders in attendance included Council Members Thomas Dernoga and Eric Olsen, and County Executive Jack Johnson's Chief of Staff Michael Herman. Herman thanked the assembly for saving the best parts of the County. He honored Trust Chairman Alfonse Narvaez and Historic Preservation Commission Dave Turner, and the County Executive-appointed panelists who serve as board members for the two organizations.

Keynote speaker was Chancellor of University of Maryland, William E. Kirwan. He attempted to explain how programs at the school's traditional architecture and planning departments are integrating preservation concepts into their curriculums. He also said he hopes the University's new real estate marketing and development division will become a showcase for better practices for private land-development companies. During his remarks, he underscored the University's relentless support of the recently approved Old Town College Park Local Historic District. Opposing the creation of that new entity were some owners of buildings that are used for student housing. The Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) already has begun hearing permit requests from Old Town College Park landowners, including Sigma Chi Fraternity's request to demolish their 60-year-old chapter house. The Sigma Chi house is a contributing feature in the new Historic District, and was included on the "15 Most Endangered" list.

Two homeowners were sited for successful rescues of their properties this year. Magnolia Knoll, an 1850 farmhouse built on a spectacular stretch of the Patuxent River, was rehabilitated by HPC Commissioner Jack Thompson. Magnolia Knoll is a two-part frame structure with a salt-box roof and a one-story kitchen addition. It is significant as the only 19th century structure to have survived the fire that destroyed much of Nottingham in 901.

Also receiving one of the heavy brass plaques for placement on his home was Robert Brinklow, owner of Gwynn Park in Brandywine. Built in 1857, Gwynn Park is two-story, side-gabled brick house with full-Georgian plan and an unusual decorative cornice composed of courses of molded corbelled bricks. It is a noticeable local landmark, now at the center of the recently developed Hampton Subdivision.

HPC Chairman Turner addressed the challenge that property rights advocates are presenting to preservationists, and outlined the Commission's goal to make Prince George's the nation's premier African American Heritage County.

A New Vision, Continued

Initiatives: HCT has several initiatives underway or proposed:

1. Friends of Preservation Newsletter: The FOP Newsletter is the voice of preservation in the County. We seek news items from preservation and historic associations around the county.
   
2. Newell Post: The Newell Post is the Trust’s architectural salvage effort. Salvage is a Trust prerogative per County legislation. Income from the Newell Post helps to sustain the Trust. Currently this is managed by Trustee Jack Thompson as a labor of love, but he needs help.
   
3. Addison Chapel & Trust Headquarters: PGCHCT has stewardship over two properties, the historic Addison Chapel in Seat Pleasant and a 1-acre parcel that contains our new headquarters building. We need to manage these assets to best serve the preservation community.
   
4. African American Education Heritage: Our Rosenwald School marker program seeks to raise the profile of endangered historic school building for the 9 extant Rosenwald school buildings in the County. We hope to expand this effort to share the story of African American empowerment and education and make this relevant for a modern audience by developing other materials such as posters and curricula.
   
5. Rural Sites Preservation, Rural Tier, Tobacco Barns: Southern Maryland tobacco barns were recently identified on the National Trust’s most endangered list. The establishment of a Rural Tier in Prince George’s County along the Patuxent River and at Broad Creek was designed to give the County time to establish smart growth planning for these areas and to preserve rural character, historic assets and farms jeopardized by unplanned growth. The Trust is seeking ways to support these efforts.
   
6. Sprawl/Smart Growth: Similarly, PG County is both blessed and cursed by lack of development. We are currently evaluating ways to address this issue and influence our lawmakers to take a measured sustainable approach to growth.
   
7. Historic Waterways: Broad Creek and the Patuxent River are both gateways to the Chesapeake and important historic waterways. We hope to support, preserve, and enhance these areas.
   
8. Historic Areas: Organizations like Broad Creek Historic District Advisory Committee (Fort Washington), Aman Memorial Trust (Bladensburg), as well as historic associations in Laurel, Greenbelt, Hyattsville, North Brentwood, Mt Rainier, and College Park all have issues that require our support.
   
9. Heritage in the Community Poster Project: The Trust is planning to develop a series of thematically linked professionally produced posters promoting heritage issues. Topics might include Rosenwald Schools, African American Heritage Sites (as well as Native American, Rural, Hispanic, etc.); Historic Museums and Properties; Historic Districts; County History; Anacostia Trails; etc.
   
10. The State of Preservation: Starting this year the Trust will prepare a summary of the year’s preservation efforts in conjunction with its annual report.
    

Alfonso A. Narvaez, Chair

A New Vision for the Trust

2005 brought many changes to the Trust. This special issue of the Friends of Preservation Newsletter is our first issue since the resignation of long-time Chair and Trustee Donna Schneider. Donna served in almost every capacity at the Trust over a period of eleven years. Her stewardship of this organization included many achievements, culminating in the acquisition of a new Trust headquarters in Upper Marlboro. The Schneider family almost single-handedly managed the Trust in recent years and we are grateful and proud of their efforts and achievements. We wish Donna all the best.

My first act as Chair was to initiate a strategic planning process for the Trust to evaluate past accomplishments and chart a new direction for the future. We received a special grant from Preservation Maryland and the Maryland Historical Trust that has been used to fund a strategic planning and board development program facilitated by Leni Preston of Preston & Associates. As part of this process we have engaged Prince George’s Heritage to be a co-participant and hope to eventually engage other members of the Prince George’s community.

Our next step will be to continue working on developing the tools necessary to make the Trust vibrant, sustainable and relevant in coming years Our immediate goals are:

Advisory Role: The Trust is frequently asked to evaluate key issues that come before the Historic Preservation Commission and comment. The Trustees have a duty to support and promote preservation issues, archeology, county history, and our historic sites all across the county.

Advocacy: Heritage tourism is a cornerstone of economic development. County officials must get the message that "Gorgeous Prince George's" wouldn't exist without four centuries of history to back it up. To define a "Livable Communities" without including heritage preservation is to miss a core piece of each area’s identity. Trash, storm water runoff, traffic, and crime have an enormous impact on our historic properties.

Heritage Tourism: Our mission statement gives us a mandate to preserve and promote the County's heritage sites. We are seeking ideas for ways to be supportive of heritage initiatives within the County such as the Anacostia Trails Heritage Area, the Maryland Scenic Byways Lower Patuxent River Tour, and promotion of County historic sites.
Visibility & Membership: We are seeking to build stronger bridges to our sister organizations within the county and state to identify partnering opportunities, avoid duplication of effort, increase membership, and forge alliances to support each other's agendas.

--Alfonso A. Narvaez, Chair